J WELLS & KURUPT "DIGITAL SMOKE" FEATURE (September 2007) | Interview By: Justin

   

As ever you can read this exclusive Dubcnn interview and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to justin@dubcnn.com.

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Kurupt & J Wells - All We Smoke (Music Video)

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Behind The Scenes Of "All We Smoke" Video Shoot

Kurupt & J Wells - Summertime (Music Video)

Shoutouts From The Set of All We Smoke
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Dubcnn: All We Smoke

"All We Smoke," well as far as the beat, I had the idea of the horns. I had the horn progressions and the bass line. Me and my homeboy Chanz, we collaborated on that. He kind of brought it out bigger. He's one of my production partners that I work with down south from the Dungeon Family.

From that, I put my verse on it and we had the hook on there. Kurupt heard it and went crazy. He jumped on it, mixed it up, put it on the SSL. It was a classic. That was the first song that really started the whole "Digital Smoke" idea. I had that song like two years ago. It was like "Alright, we need to do a whole album together." He supported it and we just put it together.


Dubcnn I'm Just Saying

That was just one of them records. When I did the beat, it was just like let me just make some simple banging, epic type shit. Kurupt he heard it, and he just jumped on it and spit that "What is this? a fucking game you're playing? / Cuz I don’t understand a fuckin word you're saying / I'm just saying / This ain't the way to get rich / By making the money and trickin it on a bitch." It was just a classic line to open up the album with. That's classic Kurupt. We don't love these hoes.


Dubcnn: Get It

That record is definitely a symbol of being in Atlanta and working on music and feeling the whole vibe. I did the beat on that, and put my touch on it. It was just inspiration. Goodie Mob they always come by the house. Khujo, that’s my homeboy. Come through. Kurupt was in town at the time. We were just in there vibin' and boom the record was made. Roscoe was there too. We all did that in Atlanta. I threw a verse on there. It was just magic. It just came together.


Dubcnn: I'm Too Gangsta

"I'm Too Gangsta" is a track we did couple years back. I think maybe three years back. It was just all these records, we were feeling them. The beat was on, I made the beat. Kurupt came up with something, Gail had something, Styles was there. We were all just vibin', and it just came together naturally. We actually did that around those days when we were at Wolfpac. Shout out to Wolfpac and my homeboy Wolf.


Dubcnn: Summertime

That came together with my homegirl Nire, she came up with that hook, that "Summertime". I had the beat with the leads and the pianos on it. It was just a feel good record. We used to have these sessions where everybody was there, the whole Y.A. crew. Tri-Star, Roscoe, Gail Gotti, Kurupt, all the homies, cats that just come through, be stopping through. We used to just collaborate and do songs not thinking about what the radio thinks, or what this person might think. Songs that just felt good, and that’s how it came together. It was really just a BBQ song, picnic, lets get it crackin, summertime. And a classic is made.


Dubcnn: Smokin'

That track right there actually was produced by my homie Blaqtoven. That was at a time, we were working together on a lot of stuff. Shout out to Blaqtoven. He is one of the best producers out here on the west coast. James Debarge is on there just spittin crazy. It just came together. Roscoe pounded on the track. We had a girl on there, Drew Sidora, and she came in blowin. Everyone bouncin off each other. It was just a natural progression. Classic. Shouts out to the homeboy YG. He's doing some long consecutive sentences right now in the penitentiary. We pray for him to come home. He on that record. He spit. YG. Free YG.


Dubcnn: History

I had that beat, and we had the song done. Me and Kurupt did that around the time when we was working on a lot of records for his solo album. We ended up using some of these for our project. I had the verses and the song, and hooked up with Butch Cassidy. This dude come through permed out, with the hair in the net, with not a hair out of place, with the crispy creased slacks with the gators on. He's so pimpin. He just came through and just laid it down, and that just blessed it.

That just made it a west coast anthem. Shouts out to the homeboys Damizza and Butch Cassidy, all those over at Baby Ree, much love to them. It just came together. My homegirl Kimmy is on there singing the intro part, basically introducing the record. She's from Compton. that's one artists I'm really trying to push. She a female singer, she's almost like the female Kokane. She got her twist on it. She came in and set the precedent for the record. We just took it. Butch, it speaks for itself. Digital Smoke. History.


Dubcnn: Los Angeles

I came to Kurupt, he basically was like "You need to do a solo song for this album." I'm like "Alright, cool..." He executive produced the album, oversaw everything. I went back to the lab, and cooked something up. It just came to me, all the stuff I've been through. From coming up with Wolfpac records, hooking up with Kurupt, going on tour with Snoop, watching all the stuff that went on between Snoop, Kurupt, Daz and Tha Dogg Pound, Kurupt going back to Death Row and rolling with the whole Death Row thing, and everything coming back together on the west coast when Kurupt & Tha Dogg Pound did "Cali Iz Active."

Just being a young cat who was very influential in all this stuff but just played his position. That was really just my take on who I am, and really just growing up in Los Angeles. I'm from Chicago but I spent a lot of time rolling through L.A., selling my CD's out the trunk, being a real hustler. I walked through a lot of different areas, seen a lot of different stuff. That was just my ode to a place that really influenced me a lot, whether it be the streets or the rap music scene. so Los Angeles, Digital Smoke.


Dubcnn: Got Me Goin'

Knoc is a talented artist. That is one dude that is really a songwriter even in his raps. He's just a talented dude like that. Dr. Dre saw it in him first. Shouts out to Knoc-Turn'Al. He blessed it. He told me to jump on the track, and we just did that together. Kurupt heard it, he loved it and just wanted to leave it like that. It was classic like that. I liked it because to me it reminded me of some Alkaholiks shit. It was drunk, we was both drunk. It was just a fun song to do. It wasn't about making a perfect radio song .. it was just "Girl you really got me going!" Some straight drunk, party/boogie down shit. It fit perfectly for a Likwit nigga.


Dubcnn: It'z Nothin

Well first of all that track is very famous. All of you all out there that’s playing "Fight Night 3", that song is on there. That's one of the main songs on there, "Roscoe - It'z Nothin". If you ever got your ass kicked or wooped some ass at "Fight Night 3", just to let everyone know Kurupt is the king of "Fight Night 3". I've seen him, he almost got with me, but I had to give it to him. He got the award right now for the best in boxing at "Fight Night 3". Anybody want to challenge Kurupt y'all got to hit up Dubcnn for a game match off!

"It'z Nothin" was in there. That was just a record that me and Roscoe made where he was just spittin. The beat is all about him spittin. It was all just about something so he can just spit and tell people "Its nothing, you all want to talk shit, its nothin, you all got something to say about us, its nothin" because we going to keep on. Its just one of them songs where he's spittin, spittin, spittin. You got to have that. Being that's Kurupts brother, and that's part of the crew, it fits. It's all about me and Kurupt letting our homeboys shine, and letting what we doing shine. That's what "Digital Smoke" is all about. West Coast.


Dubcnn: I Came In The Door

Well actually, "I Came in the Door", Quik played the piano on it. He had come by my studio when I was up at Sony. I was just vibing around with some ideas. I had the bass line and the drums. Quik was like "Man!", and he played some stuff. It was just a vibe. It wasn't nothing that we planned out. That's why "Digital Smoke" feels so good, because it was all natural. It was all just a lot of west coast talent in the lab, grinding, getting down, and that's how I like to keep it. Kokane came through once the track was done. Kurupt and Kokane went back and forth. It was all about the Rakim "I came in the door..." Paying homage to Rakim. Shouts out to Rakim, that's my homeboy. "I Came in the Door" is a classic. It's really a lot of folk’s favorite song. Big Boy from Power 106, it's his favorite song, he called me personally and said, "This song is banging with Kokane!" "

"I came in the door, said it before, I never let a hoe...". Kokane is crazy, and that's all I got to say. Shouts out to Kokane. That’s one of the most talented cats on the west coast to ever do it. Hands down. He's been on millions of records. He's been around before I was even doing music, so to even have that cat on my record is an honor. The same with DJ Quik. We just put it together and it just became a classic.


Dubcnn: Let Em Know

Once again, Kurupt came in and said "This album is dope. You got the solo, we got this song, we got the single, we got this, but you got to have the Liks on this album." I said, "Yeah you're right," I put together a beat. I wanted something that was hittin and open, that displayed my talent as a Likwit crew member. I might not make the typical beat that is essential for the Liks. I'm the new generation. I'm the bridge between the DPG and the Likwit crew. My sound is an assimilation of both.

I came with the beat. J-Ro heard it and went crazy. He came down from Sweden just to get down on the track. So that's how special this album is. We got people flying down all the way from across the country. It's crazy. It's out of here. Tash came through, and he got down on it. It just stuck. I came and spit my verse. Everybody was like....Tash heard me and said, "Damn, you spittin like that man?!" When you hold back and just let loose, it's like a tiger. You're just fierce. All this stuff I've been seeing through these years now, I'm rapping and telling people what I'm thinking and I'm seeing